NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Attempt to Involve Me in Anti-Google "Astroturf Lies" PR Campaign
Attempt to Involve Me in Anti-Google "Astroturf Lies" PR Campaign
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000850.html
I originally had not planned to say anything about this publicly -- as
I've mentioned previously I'm in the process of scaling back as many
non-high priority activities as possible until such a time as the
situation here can somehow be improved, but this is worth noting.
A story is blowing up now about an apparent covert "astroturf"
campaign to plant a false privacy-related anti-Google story in the
mainstream media.
A good backgrounder on this is "BUSTED: Former CNBC Tech Reporter Jim
Goldman Caught Spreading Lies About Google For Unnamed PR Client":
http://j.mp/kd9KWI (Business Insider).
In fact, a direct attempt was made to suck me into this about a week
ago. I received email from a CNBC Producer asking, essentially, if I
had any privacy-related dirt regarding the Google "Social Circle"
feature for a story CNBC was working on.
I told him that other than my feeling that the related features could
be better explained in ways that would help avoid user confusion (in
general, I'm on record as believing that Google needs to do a better
job in the documentation and user support areas, as you probably
know), I did *not* see any intrinsic privacy problems with
"Social Circle," and in fact I believed it was a user-positive feature
to help people understand the social connections that they had already
created.
I also offered to provide him with more details about how the Google
social features related to all this worked and were actually of
benefit to users.
Uncharacteristically for most media contacts, I never heard back from
him, not even a "thank you" note.
Shortly thereafter, word started coming in that some sort of
"astroturf" lie-spreading campaign was apparently in progress. In the
week since, it has become obvious that this was much more organized
than it may have appeared at first glance.
As far as I know, the actual identity of the client who triggered all
this through the Burson-Marsteller PR firm has not yet been revealed.
I really don't appreciate attempts to involve me in fake stories or
false pretenses. Some of you may recall back in 2004 when Viacom
(Comedy Central, as it turned out) directly lied to me in a (nearly
successful) effort to get me onto what I discovered to be a fake
debate show (from my blog: "Viacom/MTV Networks' 'The Debate Show' Fraud":
http://j.mp/pVoxt - and detailed chronology: http://j.mp/kHEKQt .
USA Today's take on that story is here: http://j.mp/lmDF4F .
I have a very similar feeling about this current case as I did with
those Viacom lies. I am extremely interested in finding out who was
the attempted astroturf "puppet master" behind this new false
propaganda effort.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Google Buzz: http://j.mp/laurenbuzz
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com